City attorneys prepare to help board

Law Department will need time to answer key questions

“There’s been a lot of questions going on, of course, around House Bill 70.” — School board members Mark Ballard

Lorain Law Director Pat Riley will enter the fray over governance of Lorain City Schools. However, he cautioned school board members the city Law Department will need time to answer key questions about the district and dealing with the state’s academic distress rating. Riley and Assistant Law Director Mallory Santiago attended the Feb. 19 meeting of the Lorain City School board. Answers may not come quickly, but school board members Mark Ballard, Tony Dimacchia, Bill Sturgill and Timothy Williams appeared ready to accept whatever help the city lawyers could offer. “There’s been a lot of questions going on, of course,w around House Bill 70,” said Ballard. He referred to the state law that governs how the Academic Distress Commission appoints a CEO to oversee Lorain schools. For a lot of those questions, the board members don’t have the answers, he said. Ballard said the legislation has not been tested in court “and it’s been written

very, very gray.” Because of that, the school board reached out to see if the law director could clarify the interpretation of the law, Ballard said. “We are duty-bound by law to represent the school board,” Riley said. Although the Law Department has that duty, Riley said it was good for the board to have their own counsel, Lorain attorney Anthony Giardini, present as well. “The issues that face the board, at least as I’ve been made aware of them, are complex, complicated and require much study to give an appropriate answer,” Riley said. The city attorneys are not experts in school law, Riley said, adding they have their hands full at Lorain City Hall. The board will need some patience for the city lawyers to get up to speed, Riley said. He added he read House Bill 70 for the first time only recently because it was not the responsibility of the city Law Department before. “I think I would be remiss to say to you that I’m in a position to give you good solid legal advice,” Riley said. He suggested the board members should submit questions in writing so the legal staff would have time to research the proper answers. There are parts of House Bill 70 that the board wants legal opinions on, as opposed to hearing something on television or finding something via Internet search on Google, Williams said. That leads to speculation and ideas, Williams said. But the board could use someone with expertise to give clarity on what the legal precedent is and what the board focus should be, he said. In the board’s public comment period, residents Rhoda Lee and Sumer Harvey asked about legalities involving House Bill 70. Lee said the board should have consulted legal counsel in 2009 when state legislation about Lorain schools became a possibility. Giardini said he has not interacted with the current Academic Distress Commission. But when HB 70 was passed, Giardini said he made no secret he thought the law was not well thought out and not good law. “I do feel the state of Ohio has the constitutional obligation to provide public education to every student in the state,” Giardini said. Lee called the state rules taxation without representation and Giardini agreed other people feel that way. Harvey asked about school building ownership and what would happen if the administration closes or dissolves low-performing schools. In Ohio law, a school district first must offer a closed school for sale to a charter school, Giardini said. But Dimacchia noted HB 70 was poorly written and passed quickly in the Ohio Legislature. That is the reason why the board of education has engaged the attorneys to assist them in understanding what legal issues the school board can raise if that were to occur, he said. “So, was there an answer to that question?” Harvey asked. “There’s not an answer to that,” Giardini said. If Lorain schools gets to that point, there will be a legal process to follow for the district, said Riley and Williams. The Lorain City School board is the owner, but as a steward in trust for the citizens of Lorain, Williams said. If a closure were to happen, he said it is not a slam dunk and the citizens would come together and assess what is important to them. “House Bill 70 gives clear authority to a CEO,” Williams said. “But communities, just because House Bill 70 does that, doesn’t mean communities don’t have a recourse.” The citizens and board would use legal counsel and public pressure to protect the citizens’ assets, Williams said. He added that situation would be “uncharted territory” where no Ohio school district has been before.

RICHARD PAYERCHIN — THE MORNING JOURNAL Lorain Law Director Pat Riley, second from left seated at the table, addresses residents and the Lorain City School board during the board meeting of Feb. 19. Riley said his department is willing to help the school board, but will need time because the city lawyers are not expert at school law.